1. Field of the Invention
A clip structure for supporting a molding is attachable to a vehicle body. The clip includes a break-away spacer element which is used for properly locating the clip with respect to other vehicle structure.
2. Prior Art
Conventionally, vehicle moldings are mounted on vehicle exteriors during the manufacturing process by means of full-sized fixtures. The fixtures are used to properly locate the molding on the vehicle body. The fixtures are quite expensive. Additionally, the tolerance range, the accuracy, of fixtures is not as close as desired. Further, fixtures are bulky and heavy and difficult to handle. This latter point results in relatively inefficient use of the time of production workers.
In accordance with the present invention, a clip is provided for supporting moldings, or the like, which does not require the use of a fixture for proper location. This substantially reduces manufacturing costs.
Positionment of the clips is accomplished by providing break-away spacer elements on the clip in the form of locator tabs. The tabs are positioned with respect to an available reference location, such as another previously mounted molding or panel. The break-away nature of the tabs permits easy removal of the tabs after the mounting clip structure is secured in place. A molding is then secured on the clip structure by means of molding clips provided on the moldings. This permits lower cost installation plus custom tailoring of the moldings of each vehicle which takes into account variances in the tolerance of a vehicle build. All vehicles are not dimensionally identical. Thus, it is desirable to locate moldings on the vehicle with reference to the exact physical characteristics of the vehicle which, as above stated, inherently varies from vehicle to vehicle.